


time flies when doing long division

by rangerdanger985



Series: carry my aching soul [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Cussing, F/M, Humor, I'm Bad At Tagging, Kidnapping, Please Don't Kill Me, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-19
Updated: 2015-07-23
Packaged: 2018-04-10 02:10:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 12,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4373189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangerdanger985/pseuds/rangerdanger985
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She was beauty. She was grace. She was a stark. She would rub it in your face.</p><p>the continuation of Beth starks adventures when trying to be a hero, keep her brother from being arrested, and trying to have a normal love life.<br/>it was a violent combination in anyone, but for a stark? you better just sit back and watch the sparks fly!<br/>aka i am horrible at summarys when put on the spot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so heres part two of the series which is really part one because lets play a game is a back story fic and this is.......
> 
> lets be honest i dont really know what this is.  
> but i hope you enjoy! fair warning i did this and finished it by writing nonstop for almost a week so ts bound to suck a bit.  
> let me know if you find any flaws in the comments below and give me your ideas for the next installment in the series!  
> kudos are love! love is food! love sustains me! dont let me starve!  
> enjoy! <3  
> RD

There was a lot people knew about Elizabeth grace stark, there was no way to avoid paparazzi when your younger brother is a billionaire playboy you constantly bail out of trouble.

They knew she was very intelligent and supported her brother despite how much they argued, because most of the time his ideas are her own envisioned and improved.

They knew she lived with her brother in the new ‘avengers’ tower he built a year after the new York incident as it was being called.

They knew she was a woman who liked to party and get drunk, before she could no longer get drunk.

And they knew she worked with the avengers, had named her iron jacket, everyone had laughed when she yelled at the TV that there wasn’t even any iron in her suit.

What they didn’t know was how she use to have to live in a hospital because any virus she was exposed to could kill her.

They didn’t know she graduated collage when she was 20 having a master degree in robotics and engineering.

They didn’t know she's never had an actual boyfriend that lasted more than a week.

They didn’t know she had those same genes in her veins as captain ice pants.

And they damn sure didn’t know she was developing a crush on fore mentioned ice pants.

Sometimes she thought of everything the public ‘knew’ about her and she had to laugh, they had no idea, and she took great pleasure in proving them wrong every single time a new headline popped up.

It was nothing personal she was just a contradicitive little shit.


	2. Chapter 2

Sitting on top of the building was nice, nicer than she thought it would be.

It was far enough no one could notice her, though not enough for the sounds of the city not to reach her.

No one bothered her when she was on the roof lounging against the warm stone soaking in the heat from the sun; it was a nice day by New York standards.

Ever since the Loki thing there hasn’t been much time for nice days, to busy helping to reconstruct her home or being sent off by fury for one reason or another.

During one mission she thought they forgot about her but no, turned out fury had to pretend to be dead to flush out some moles in SHIELD, not that he told anyone accept for Steve, she was still slightly butt hurt over that one.

Tony was still pouting.

“Lizzy where are you?” her brothers voice was in her ear “I'm around, what do you want?” she questioned not opening her eyes “we could use some help” he replied and she sighed finally opening her eyes “I’m on it”

She stood from her perch and walked to the edge then jumped her arms crossed she trusted the repulsers on her boots to catch her which they did.

She walked inside suit being dismantled from around her and walked right for the kitchen bumping tony with her hip to get him out of her way “swear to god one of these days your gonna have to learn how to cook” she took the skillet and with a flick of her wrist flipped the items contained within she then got the spatula and flattened down the patties of meat.

She could feel her brother pouting at her “not my fault I normally order takeout!” she looked at her brother as she bound her hair in a tight tail on the back of her head “tony think about what you just said”

He paused then sighed in defeat as she smiled “yeah” she agreed to his realization then motioned toured the sink “wash those” he trudged over to wash the head of lettuce by the sink.

Glancing around she saw Clint working his way through some potatoes already skinned and Natasha slicing some tomatoes before going to help Clint.

She sighed fondly to herself and took out the burger patties laying them on the prepared platter before slapping down some more meat in the pan, and then as she was prepping a pot with oil in it for the fries she noticed someone missing.

“Where’s captain ice pants? I saw he was here” Natasha glanced up but she saw the smirk on the assassins face “down in the gym” Bruce said walking in from the main room.

She pointed a spatula at the man “why did you let my brother near the kitchen?” she asked he raised a brow at the spatula seeming unimpressed then looked at her “don't blame me not even you can control your brother” she blinked at him for a moment the shrugged “well you’re not lyin”

She smiled at Tony's sputtering dumping in the first lot of fries stirred them then flipped the burgers.

“Where did you learn to cook?” he asked her arms crossed as he leaned on the kitchen island she looked at the man “you can only live on takeout for so long, I was sick when I was younger not invalid” she swapped out the burgers again then turned toured Bruce

“And I had a talent in the kitchen, but JARVIS might have helped a little” tony piped up from where he was leaned against the sink “told her how to do everything”

She turned to her brother “I didn’t see you complaining” he glared at her halfhearted “I was in fear for my life! Any time I walked into the kitchen you had a knife as long as my arm in your hand!”

She snorted and smirked “not my fault you were short as hell until you were 18”

Their soon to be argument was interrupted by Clint and Natasha shouting “fries!” she bolted to the stove with a curse dipping out the fries perfectly cooked and sat them in a bowl grinning proudly.

“why the hell is it impossible for you to burn anything?” tony demanded she grinned at her brother putting in the other half of fries while flipping the burgers “how is it impossible for you not to burn anything?”

She herd three sighs from behind her when she was graved by the shoulders and turned and looked at Natasha “you go get Steve tell him lunch it almost ready” she rolled her eyes and saluted “yes ma'am” she could see Bruce ushering her brother out as well and snickered which turned into a laugh when he flipped her off.

“I know I'm number one in your book you don't have to keep reminding me” she taunted and walked to the elevators.

She knew the moment the elevator opened its doors she was on the correct floor she could hear the thud thud thud of someone hitting a punching bag, she leaned against the wall and watched.

Steve had his head slightly ducked and seemed lost in memory as he pounded the bag until with one last loud thud it went flying spilling its innards across the floor.

He seemed to be doing that more and more when he came to use the gym, still refusing to move in though she could understand, kind of.

Steve stepped back and huffed once before turning and she decided to announce her presence.

“What did that bag ever do to you?” he looked at her brows rising almost like he knew she was there which he probably did she wasnt exactly hiding.

“Ha-Ha” he fake laughed and she rolled her eyes pushing off the wall “something bugging you cap?” she questioned as she approached a couple steps, he glanced at her before hanging another bag where the old one use to be “ just got a lot on my mind”

She tilted her head to one side and shoved her hands into her pockets “care to share?” that made him look at her and she took in his appearance his normally well-kept hair was messy and damp with sweat, a few drops of which made a break for it one sliding down his throat into his shirt the other dripping off his chin.

“No thanks” she mentally shook herself and glanced at his eyes, bright blue and endless, deep enough to drown in then shrugged “offers there if you need it”

The way he looked at her then was kind of strange like he was trying to think if she was serious but she didn’t let him linger on it “anyway, lunch is almost done, I salvaged it from my brother so most of it should be edible” she saw his lips twitch

“Do you always do that?” he questioned as she walked for a shelf on the wall by the punching bags final resting place, she nudged it with a foot “do what?” she questioned graving a towel and flapped it out

“Make fun of him”

She pursed her lips for a moment, thinking then turned lips stretched in a grin and threw the towel at him with her response “well, yeah. I’m the older sibling it’s my job”

He caught the towel with one hand looking unimpressed one brow raised “I thought an older siblings job was to protect their Youngers”

She smirked leaning against the shelf “me and my brother have an interesting relationship, were more best friends than siblings” she shrugged “it’s the way we communicate, he says fuck you I say bite me and all is right with the world”

When she looked at him she saw a slight reddening along his neck from something other than exertion because she's noticed, captain America doesn't just blush with his face there and gone, oh no, it starts at his chest travels up his neck to his ears then slowly his face.

She just though it was cute when he blushed and of course she made sure every chance she got she tried to make it go all the way to his cheeks, didn’t always succeed but it was fun trying.

She thought on that for a moment before standing up and made a shooing motion at the man “go, shower, foods getting cold and I don't want to eat next to your sweaty man scent” silently she added she didn’t want to distraction.

She looked at him again and saw him blushing full force she hid her grin by walking toured the elevators “come along tut tut and all that, I will eat your serving” that made the man chuckle “I’ll be up in a minute” she waved but knew he'd turned to use the gym showers.

Once the doors closed she leaned against the wall and giggled, she just couldn’t help it felt felt like a teenager.


	3. Chapter 3

True to his word Steve was up maybe 10 minutes later and gathering his own food.

Now everyone had maybe two burgers accept for Thor who had recently arrived, but he was a huge guy and also a god so he had six.

But her and Steve? They were human and they both had five large burgers piled high with tomato and lettuce along with an entirely different plate for their fries.

Now normally they didn’t eat that much and normally their servings were just a little larger than normal but they always had at least one huge meal per day with enough calories to make a horse have a heart attack.

Normally it was breakfast but she had skipped breakfast that morning working in the lab, she didn’t know what Steve’s excuse was.

After her second burger disappearing she noticed Natasha and Clint watching them because of course she and steve were on the same side of the table beside each other, she swore they did it on purpose.

Sitting back a little she looked back at them “what do I have something on my face?” she asked only half joking Natasha shifted a little and propped her cheek on her hand “no I'm just wondering where you put all of that” the woman motioned to her plate “and stay thinner than me”

Beth sat back and rolled her eyes to herself “ok first of all I'm not 'thinner' than you I weigh almost 200lbs, tony I swear to god if you make any fat jokes I will kill you from here with a napkin”

She glared at her brother who was biting his lip then turned her attention back to Natasha “second I have a high metabolism, I think it’s payback for all the time I spent not eating when I was younger” she scratched at her chin for a moment then mentally shrugged and went back to her food, it was about that time her brother decided to risk death.

“Yeah, she used to be tiny maybe a hundred pounds, now it’s doubled. I think I know why you don't eat takeout”

While her brother was laughing he didn’t notice her dump her fries onto the same plate as Steve’s and then chuck it at his head, the plastic plate made contact with a nice thunk sound and he fell back she went back to eating like she hadn't almost skulled her brother.

“Damn it Lizzy! Do I need to start wearing a helmet?” she looked at her brother now sitting on the floor “I thought you did anyway mental case” he glared at her rubbing his head “if I get a helmet it’s gonna be attached to my suit” he threatened and she laughed.

“Fine put on the suit I wanted to see what my first did to iron plated dumbass” he learned and leaned on the table “I swear to god you four eyed-”

Before the argument could continue Steve spoke up “no fighting at the table you two, take it outside!” she pouted at the man “rather make him do the dishes” her brother grinned “sorry cooker dose the dishes!” he turned and hurried away and she turned “no fair I always cook!” she yelled at his retreating back “exactly” she rolled her eyes and shook her head chuckling fondly

“One of these days I’m gonna kill that ass”

“language” she looked at Steve one brow risen even though he didn’t look at her and made a face but went back to her food, reaching for a fry she almost jumped when to warm for normal skin touched her own instead she hid her reaction and altered the hands course snagging a couple of fries and bit them in half.

She and Steve had been brushing hands a lot recently, first time it happened she had jumped and Natasha had hounded her about it, with a quick glance up she saw the woman was smirking behind her own food.

Beth hid a groan she didn’t need that woman making fun of her as well.

After everyone was finished and she was gathering the dishes to wash what wouldn’t fit in the dishwasher Steve offered to help.

She was a stark so she never turned down free help, but this time she did because the man had been distracted recently, that didn’t stop him from sitting at the counter and keeping her company.

“ya know” she started after the silence had stretched for too long “if you moved into your place here you could do some of the cooking” she glanced over at him he had one brow risen a little “just a thought” she turned back to the dishes and knew heat was raising in her own face.

It was a pure effort of will to make it cool “I appreciate the offer I really do” she glanced up “but” she mouthed as he spoke the word “I’d rather just stay on my own for a while” she angled her head “I can understand that, but fair warning one of these days you’re going to show up, im going to drag you here and I am going to make you do the cooking”

She heard a chuckle from behind her and smiled, his chuckle was almost as cute as his blush.

“Excuse me ma'am but you’re going to be late” she looked up as if she’d be able to see Jarvis “for Wha- oh yeah! Thanks jarv”

“you’re welcome ma'am” the AI replied and she hurried to finish the dishes and wipe off her hands Steve was looking at her again “got a date stark?” he asked and she grinned at him “you could say that” she tossed her apron on the counter and suddenly the blond blushed she wondered why until she saw what the apron said.

‘Kiss the captain’ was scrawled on it in red white and blue with a shield on the bottom she forgot her brother get that as a gag gift last year but she didn’t have time to linger and appreciate the rosy cheeks “latter cap, don't be a stranger” she didn’t hear if he replied because she was in the elevator a second later.

“Jarvis please alert my brother that I will kill him for that apron later” there was silence then the AI spoke “he appears unconcerned ma'am” she sighed and shook her head before going to the garage and left, she didn’t want to keep the lovely waiting.


	4. Chapter 4

The woman in the photos looked different than the older one lying in the bed; she looked different even than the one in Beth’s memory.

“Time sure dose fly doesn't it?” Beth looked at the old woman who was smiling kindly “only when you’re doing long division”

Peggy carter smiled weakly “it seems like only yesterday I was asking you to come into the program, do you remember?”

Beth smiled “how could I forget, you gave me something I can never repay you for” Peggy rose one eyebrow “you didn’t seem to think that when I kept asking you to work for us” Beth rubbed the back of her neck “I guess I was more focused on actually living for once”

Suddenly she sighed heavily and slumped in the chair “I didn’t want to be a hero, I wasn’t cut out for it, I still don't think I'm much of one” Peggy shifted just enough to look at her fully “you’re a good woman, you’ve been protecting your brother in your own way for years, it was why you joined the program, you had a promise to keep” Beth lowered her head a little.

“you were so much like captain rogers, I still miss him” Beth looked at the woman sadly, her alzheimer's had been getting bad recently, she had told the woman that Steve was back so many times and even told Steve where to find Peggy and knew he'd visited at least once, but she couldn’t remember.

“I know peg, but I'm nothing like the cap, whatever it is that's flowing though my veins now? It might have come from his blood but it didn’t make me like him” Peggy smiled again “no, you’re a good woman, I know these things”

“how can you be so sure?” they had never gone through a discussion like this before Peggy rose a wrinkled hand and touched a finger to Beth’s breast bone “this is how, this does not change, it only got stronger” Beth smiled and reached up taking the woman's hand she kissed her knuckles “if you were just a few years younger”

It made the old woman laugh “it wouldn’t change anything” Beth smiled despite her failing memory this woman knew her so well, knew the gossip was just that, gossip.

She had come to this woman many times with her fears and confided in her in a way she couldn’t even with her brother.

She saw Peggy as a mother figure she had lost so many years ago.

Setting down the woman's hand she leaned to the side slumping in the chair “tell me about the good old days with the captain”

A fond smile came over the woman's lips “have I ever told you about the time a blizzard trapped half our battalion behind German lines?” she had heard it a million times but she still shook her head, Peggy smiled sadly “yes I have, you’re a horrible liar Elizabeth, your eyes give you away”

Beth smiled right back at her “I can lie when it counts, besides that's my favorite story”

Peggy smiled wider and settled back to tell her story.

“Well alright, but one day I’ll have to tell you about some of the adventured he had with the howling commandos. Now where was I, ah yes it was a nasty winter that year and Steve-”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> small warning there are mentions of abuse in this chapter if that triggers you please skip from (even made her dinner) to (when the tower was in sight)

It was a couple of weeks later after a couple of missions fury sent her on that things started to get hectic, she had started seeing this guy she met while on a walk around times square.

Jason was a nice guy, it was the first thing she noticed, despite the fact she had run into him but he apologized to her, he was blonde and had blue eyes, he looked a lot like Steve if she was being honest.

After running into him three different times, twice literally, they decided it was time to maybe hang out on purpose, he asked her out to coffee and she didn’t want to admit it but the only reason she said yes was because he looked so much like Steve.

To be honest it should have tipped her off sooner.

Soon she found herself not being around the tower as much, little things that normally would have disturbed her or shown her something was not quite right were over looked, because he looked so much like Steve, he had to be good.

Big mistake there.

One morning she got up from bed, shed spent the night at the tower for once, and she was exhausted because she was going on a mission and she had been up way to late the night before.

Clad in a pair of boxers almost too big for her and an old shirt from before she was given the serum, but was old enough and stretch out enough to fit, she trudged to the kitchen rubbing one of her eyes she herd someone trying to talk to her but wasn’t listening.

“Too early. Coffee first. Brain broken” she mumbled as she collapsed at the counter next thing she knew a cup was pressed into her hand she pulled it closer then leaned back in her chair barely pausing to breath as she almost emptied the cup when she sat forward again she felt the faint buzz of caffeine in the back of her mind and blinked a few times.

Then she noticed Steve standing on the other side of the island, his face was red, she was struck for half a second with how cute it was, Jason’s blush the one time shed seen it was nothing like Steve’s.

“What’s with you?” she questioned he shook his head “nothing” he turned away and she rose a brow then looked down and noticed what shirt she was wearing, it was blue with an image of captain America on, that wasn’t what made her own cheeks heat up, what made her blush was the fact that below it were the words ‘real American beauty’ and she already knew what the back said.

The quote was ‘ _really American beauty, is captain Americas booty_ ’

“My brother is an ass” is all the explanation she gave “language” his voice was tighter than it should be she glanced at the stove “breakfast is burning” she looked back at her cup and found it empty so went to the counter and refilled it

“Nice shirt” came Natasha’s voice and Beth spared a glare for the woman “what time is it?” she questioned raking at her hair while Steve saved his breakfast

“12:03”

“Shit!”

She bolted down the hall coffee cup forgotten on the counter Steve’s yell of “language!” following her.

She returned to the kitchen hopping on one foot as she pulled on a boot “JARVIS you didn’t wake me!” she yelled as she graved the forgotten cup and shot gunned it wiping her mouth on her black sleeve.

“I tried ma'am” she muttered another curse to Steve’s scowl “don't give me that look! I was supposed to be gone an hour ago, tony I’m taking number 4!” she yelled as she went for the elevator.

By the time tony figured out what she meant she was already speeding away in the silver Ferrari.

Fury was sending her on a recon mission and as she drove she asked JARVIS to read the briefing again because she couldn’t remember all of it.

Not that she needed to, it was a watch and wait make sure the target some government guy did what he was supposed to then she was on the way back, fury had been giving her a lot of boring missions recently but she had no idea why.

Her first stop when she returned was her boyfriend’s house, Jason was happy to see her and even cooked dinner.

But then when she said she needed to go see her brother and other live in avengers he got upset, now she and Jason have argued before, more than once but not every couple was perfect.

It was the first time he'd laid hands on her outside the bedroom though.

She should have seen it coming, he'd been becoming rougher recently but it was so gradual she didn’t even notice it, until now.

She didn’t want to fight back, she was stronger than a normal person and she knew if she fought back she could kill him, but when things started to get dark her fight or flight instincts kicked in.

She shoved as hard as she could and he went flying and then she ran.

When the tower was in sight she started to slow limping slightly she made it inside and into the elevator “hey JARVIS, anyone home?” she questioned leaning against the wall “no ma'am, Miss Romanoff and Mr. Barton were called on a mission yesterday, Mr. stark and dr. banner are asleep and captain Rogers left a hour ago”

She let out a sigh of relief even if it hurt “ma'am do you require medical attention?” how could a computer sound so worried?

She shook her head “no J, I just need a beer, everything else will heal”

The elevator dinged and the doors opened allowing her to limp to the bar instead of the kitchen “that is a little more than a beer ma'am” Jarvis told her and she looked up “not with my metabolism” she graved a bottle at random then moved to the couch and sat down.

Sinking into the cushions she sighed then unscrewed the cap on the bottle before tipping it back against her lips, it burned for a moment making her relies she had a split lip, but the alcohol barely tingled as it went down.

Mentally she cursed the serum, then the creator Erskine, then for a second she cursed Steve just to cover all bases.

As if summoned by her thoughts the elevator dinged open and someone stepped out “hey tony you still up” she sighed to herself “wrong stark brat” she waved over the couch but didn’t turn around.

“Beth? When’d you get back?” she herd steps approach and thanked whoever listened that she hadn't turned on the light “not long ago” she had her eyes closed but when the lights flicked on it still hurt she turned and buried her face in a pillow despite the pain moving caused.

“Why were you sitting in the dark?” she wanted to shrug but didn’t “I didn’t think to turn on the lights” she muttered but knew he herd, stupid super hearing.

“Ok, why are you drinking? And what happened to your shirt?”

“Since when does a stark need a reason to drink?”

“Normally the don't, unless they can’t get drunk”

She bit her lip and turned her head away “maybe I wanted to try” silence answered her and stretched out for a couple of minutes until she felt someone touching her arm “is this blood?” she jerked away but found that was a mistake because her body screamed at the movement.

“Probably” silence again “yours?”

She mentally cursed how observant this man was “maybe?” why did that come out as a question?

She heard a sigh “something happen on the mission?” he questioned she didn’t turn but waved a hand

“Nope, mission was fine, just recon, didn’t even need my suit”

Finally Steve seemed to get annoyed “stop talking into the couch cushions its rude!” with an aggravated grumble she mentally said fuck it and started to sit up “well forgive me for being so Fu-ungh!” her muscles seized when she was barely half way up she was sure she’d rip the fabric if she clenched her hand any tighter.

Something was broken, she just knew it.

Arm wrapped tight around her middle she slowly pushed herself up until she could lean on the back of the couch eyes closed because she couldn’t see anyway she waited for the red to fade before opening them again.

Steve was sitting on the coffee table openly staring at her her lips twisted a little “now who's being rude?” he shook his head “what the- what happened?” he questioned she let her head fall back “bad date” she muttered then cursed his superior hearing when his face twisted into anger.

“easy there captain ice pants, don't blow a vein” he rubbed the skin between his eyes then raked back his hair messing up the perfect rumpled curve he had going on, she tried not to think how much she wanted to do that instead of him.

It didn’t really work.

She shifted to try and get comfortable but hissed in pain arm wrapping tighter around her middle “ow damn it” she ground out, the fact that he didn’t comment on the curse was testament to how distracted he was.

He rose from the coffee table and disappeared for a minute so she took the time to take as deep a breath as she could to get her head on straight.

When he returned he carried a damp cloth in one hand and a white box with a purple mark on the top, the first aid box “can you take your shirt off?” he asked and she couldn’t help but smirk “really cap what kind of girl d'you think I am? You haven't even made me dinner”

When his face went red she chuckled slightly and shifted to remove the offending object it wasn’t pleasant but she got it off and found a discolored patch on the shirts left side.

She herd Steve take a quick breath and looked at him then looked down and saw what he noticed, her undershirt had a discolored patch on the side “huh. That explains so much” He reached out for the shirt sliding a little closer and glanced at her “sorry in advance” She grinned at him but didn’t know how real it looked “like a band aid cap, I’ll try not to punch you”

He shrugged getting a firm grip on the shirt “just try not to hit me in the face” she looked at him but he was looking at the shirt he was slowly easing up, she twitched when it tugged a little and he glanced back at her.

“On three. One”

A sudden sharp pain made her yelp “the hell happened with 2 and 3?” she demanded voice tight he glanced at her “language. And you would have tensed up” her lips twisted but she couldn’t deny his logic, especially since it was true and she should have seen that coming.

Didn’t mean she didn’t have a right to be slightly aggravated.

Once her undershirt was gone Steve made her lay on her uninjured side so he'd have better access to the injury she curled a little because if she stretched out her feet touched the other opposite arm of the couch.

Keeping her left arm up out of the way she felt him place the rag against her side then he started feeling for possible broken ribs, his hands were large and warm, fingers slightly calloused but gently in their search.

“So how's it going with the nurse that's not really a nurse? That still a thing?” she felt him pause for a moment and glanced up at him “relax I just Wanna hear how a functioning relationship is supposed to go” his lips thinned like he suddenly remembered what put her in this position then he shook himself.

“Her name was Sharon, and it’s not a thing, we went out for coffee a couple times”

She liked the faint pink that stayed on just the edge of his jaw as he spoke about his girlfriend not girlfriend.

“you planning on seeing her again?” he glanced at her and bit the inside of his cheek “I don't know, this is gonna hurt” she was about to ask what about going on a date was going to hurt until a sharp pain laced up her side.

She warned him shed try not to punch him, but he seemed prepared for it, not so much for her fingers to suddenly curl into his pant leg that was closest to her.

“you should, maybe take her out to dinner someplace nice, I mean if you found someone willing to date a guy as old as you” she didn’t expect the swat to the shoulder and glanced at him laughing at his expression.

But he looked close to smiling, closing her eyes she didn’t loosen her grip as she laid her head down “I’m just saying go have fun for a change”

He stayed silent but seemed to look at her with a new light after that.

She didn’t know why.


	6. Chapter 6

In two days she was healed almost completely and she went to visit Peggy, the old woman asked about the bruising on her jaw but Beth side tracked her, played it down as a mission injury and had the woman tell her some more stories of the good old days.

This one was about Steve and the howling commandos, yet another story shed heard a million times but only got better with age.

She stayed with the woman a good three or four hours, wondering in the small part of her mind if shed turn out like this someday, outliving everyone she knew and finding herself alone.

She couldn’t help feeling that Peggy was lucky in a way shed never be.

When she finally left she took her time going home, then she took notice of the black SUV following her she sped up a little and it disappeared so she shrugged it off she was just being paranoid.

At an empty intersection it reappeared but she got a much closer look at it because it slammed into the side of the Ferrari.

The car skidded then flipped a few times, leaving her disoriented she was laying on the roof of the car but things hurt so bad she reached to the center counsel and searched glass bits cutting her skin.

She pressed the button she found and it started flashing, looking out the window she saw someone approaching and slammed her feet into the door as hard as she could, the crumbled metal slammed into the person.

She crawled out of the car and looked around as she got to her feet slowly.

People were surrounding her, she clenched her bloodied fist as the first one attacked, she punched him in the face but something white hot went through her from behind, and she spun on the man with a shock baton.

She fought her way out of the circle she didn’t know how and she was sure if she held a light bulb at the very moment it would turn on, but she got out and started toured home.

She was fast faster than any of them and when the car exploded she was happy, the self-destruct worked perfect. She was almost home but something stopped her, she screamed in pain when something shot through her leg, looking down when she fell she saw it was a spear of some kind going right through her calf.

She didn’t think it broke anything but she couldn’t think when a sudden weight stepped in her back holding her down.

She barely managed to turn her head and glared at the dark figure “you’re gonna regret this” she swore and the figure grinned at her “no I won’t” then darkness was all she saw.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh god i am soooooooo sorrryyyyyy!!!!!! this was drafted and not posted to the actual story! i should have looked sooner when i saw it didnt have all the chapters on the counter, it must have made no since! please forgive me!!!!!!!

In two days she was healed almost completely and she went to visit Peggy, the old woman asked about the bruising on her jaw but Beth side tracked her, played it down as a mission injury and had the woman tell her some more stories of the good old days.

This one was about Steve and the howling commandos, yet another story shed heard a million times but only got better with age.

She stayed with the woman a good three or four hours, wondering in the small part of her mind if shed turn out like this someday, outliving everyone she knew and finding herself alone.

She couldn’t help feeling that Peggy was lucky in a way shed never be.

When she finally left she took her time going home, then she took notice of the black SUV following her she sped up a little and it disappeared so she shrugged it off she was just being paranoid.

At an empty intersection it reappeared but she got a much closer look at it because it slammed into the side of the Ferrari.

She car skidded then flipped a few times, leaving her disoriented she was laying on the roof of the car but things hurt so bad she reached to the center counsel and searched glass bits cutting her skin.

She pressed the button she found and it started flashing, looking out the window she saw someone approaching and slammed her feet into the door as hard as she could, the crumbled metal slammed into the person.

She crawled out of the car and looked around as she got to her feet slowly.

People were surrounding her, she clenched her bloodied fist as the first one attacked, she punched him in the face but something white hot went through her from behind, and she spun on the man with a shock baton.

She fought her way out of the circle she didn’t know how and she was sure if she held a light bulb at the very moment it would turn on, but she got out and started toured home.

She was fast faster than any of them and when the car exploded she was happy, the self-destruct worked perfect.

She was almost home but something stopped her, she screamed in pain when something shot through her leg, looking down when she fell she saw it was a spear of some kind going right through her calf.

She didn’t think it broke anything but she couldn’t think when a sudden weight stepped in her back holding her down.

She barely managed to turn her head and glared at the dark figure “you’re gonna regret this” she swore and the figure grinned at her “no I won’t” 

Then darkness was all she saw.


	8. Chapter 8

Tony was pacing, he'd been pacing for the past three days ever since Beth was kidnapped.

They had found the wreckage, no bodies, tony had told them every car had a self-destruct in case something happened.

When they found the security footage from a nearby camera they discovered Beth was attacked but no faces were visible, no plates on the cars, they found she got away from the first attack but on another camera barely a mile from the tower she was attacked again.

She couldn’t run from the harpoon in her leg or the large man standing on her back, he struck the back of her head with the gun and she fell limp from there they loaded her into a van also without plates and then disappeared off the grid.

They couldn’t find her but they were tracking down every lead they could get their hands on, digitally and physically.

On the third night Steve found tony sitting in the living room an unopened bottle of alcohol next to him staring at nothing like he was so lost he didn’t even know what to do, Steve was staying at the tower while they searched so if they found her they could get to her that much quicker and he was suddenly glad he was.

He approached the man that didn’t look up as he approached “tony?” the man barely twitched “I wonder if this is what she felt like” Steve sat on the coffee table like he'd done to help with her injuries only a few nights ago.

“What do you mean?” tony finally look up at him “you read about what happened in Afghanistan” it wasn’t a question but he nodded anyway “they held me for three months, I can’t help wondering if this is when Lizzy felt like, not knowing where I was, if I was alright” the man trailed off and Steve just looked at him, not with pity but just, looked.

“We’ll find her” tony looked at him “but will it be before it’s too late?”

Steve didn’t have an answer for that.

\----

When Beth came back to the aware she felt heavy, her mouth was dry and she couldn’t move her arms.

Glancing up she saw why, they were strapped to the wall she tried to tug but even that small movement exhausted her, looking closer she saw why, her arms were strapped down but she also had some kind of red tubes attached to her inner arms.

It took her a second to realized they were transfusion lines, whoever had kidnapped her were milking her of her blood, but the one on her left arm was clear, she blinked hard and looked at the IV bag.

At least they were taking measures to make sure she didn’t die of blood loss, she didn’t know how she should feel about that, it told her they wanted to keep her around for a while.

Whoever ‘they’ were.

It was then a door opened and a man walked in he was older, had thinning hair and a light in his eyes she didn’t like.

“Ah good morning miss stark it’s nice to see you back with us” through sheer power of will alone she managed to get her feet under her and stand up “the pleasures all yours I'm sure, where am I, and why are you bleeding me?”

The man smiled and she didn’t like it, she saw the cruelty behind them “well you see miss stark, you are very valuable to my research, or rather what's in your blood is, we've been trying for 50 years to recreate Erskine’s formula without even a blood sample, but with today’s technology our dream is finally within reach” 

The man’s eyes became dreamy and she glared “sorry to break it to ya but I don't have the original in me, that's the other guy you know” she motioned with her hand strapped above her head “about yay tall, blond, blue eyes, can break you in half like a tooth pick”

The old man laughed at her like she was making a joke “yes we know but captain rogers would just be too much for us, you were a more viable target, and especially after your little fight with your boyfriend” his pout made her want to rip his head off.

“How do you know about that?” she demanded and he smiled “We know about everything miss stark, now here’s what you’re going to do, you’re going to tell us what is in your blood, save us some time, and then you’re going to tell us exactly what happened after”

She glared hard “what if I say I don't know” she demanded his smile turned sharp and cutting “let’s just say it will be cleaner if you cooperate, you have a degree in engineering, you may not know the formula but you know something” she pressed her lips together and silence rained for a few minutes ten the older man sighed.

“Very well, but I may warn you it would be easier for your heath to do as we ask”

She leered at his back “fuck off” she growled and he smirked and left her alone in the near darkness of the room.


	9. Chapter 9

Days turned into weeks and weeks into months, they followed any possible lead on finding Beth but all turned up dead ends.

Steve had a sneaking suspicion they kept moving her, it was reinforced when they discovered traces of her DNA on bandages they found two months after shed gone missing in a ware house in berlin when two weeks before that they found her blood in a closed down factory in Detroit in a small windowless room.

Tony was getting desperate and worried beyond reason but they all were, Steve though for some reason if they weren't torturing her they might have been using her blood for something that could be worse than torture.

They had all discussed reasons as to why she would be taken, she was female had been tossed around until Natasha spoke up saying she was also female and weaker than Beth so if that was the reason it would have been her they were looking for not Beth, so they decided it had to be something specific for her but no one could think of what it could possibly be, not at first.

“Erskine’s formula” Steve said during one of their meetings food staying mostly untouched by all of them, accept for Thor nothing could stop the gods appetite.

Everyone looked at him and Tony's eyes lit up with realization “but she wasn’t given the actual formula, at least not what they gave you, it was a formula extracted from your blood that they... oh my god”

Tony's face went pale as he suddenly relised what Steve had been thinking for weeks “but why didn’t they come after you instead?” Bruce asked in Tony's silence “because I had the full formula, simply put I'm too strong” so they knew why and they had something to go one.

They needed to look for someplace with high electricity use to run the machines needed to proses and maintain any samples they had processed.

But while they knew what they were doing they didn’t know how close they were to finishing and that it was entirely possible that they could finish at any time and no longer need her, so a new since of urgency pushed them, it didn’t help the stress levels or their tempers.

One thought continuously raced through Steve's head, he was the reason she was in this situation it was he taking the formula drawn from his blood that made her get taken, it was his fault and he had to find her.

He had to.

\-----

Beth had no idea how long shed been in captivity, she just knew that she’d been takin someplace, they moved randomly but the location was always a mystery to her, they were either drugging her or covering her head.

Sometimes even both.

They gave her enough food and water to ensure she recreated her blood supply quickly, randomly giving her a small amount of vitamin C, but with her advanced metabolism she lost muscle mass and weight, she needed more so finally she did what she had to do.

They were going to kill her after they got what they wanted anyway so why not ensure she did what she had to do so shed stay alive just a little longer.

“I’ll help” she told the man when he arrived with her daily food and water, the man was young had dark marks on his face almost like tattoos and he seemed surprised when she finally spoke after so long, he put down the tray he carried and ran out.

The old man returned with him in tow a few minutes later “I hear you’re finally willing to cooperate miss stark” she gave the man a strong hard look “only on a few conditions”

The man smiled “I won’t be letting you go anytime soon” she rolled her eyes but it made her dizzy her blood volume was way low “duh, I'm not stupid, I want more food, more water, maybe the possibility to get clean clothing”

The man looked excited “and you’ll tell us what they did?” he questioned she narrowed her eyes then hung her head “better, do everything I asked for, and I’ll build you the machine they used on me”

She was pretty sure the man would have squealed if he was a woman.

She just closed her eyes again as they left the room, she’d just made a deal with the devil and challenged him to a game of chess.

She could only hope she was smart enough to stay three moves ahead.


	10. Chapter 10

Steve was walking down the street in silence; he had to get away from Thor and Tony's arguing and think.

They had been so close this time, the blood hadn't even had time to dry on the floor but they couldn’t find any other sign of Beth or her abductors.

So deep in thought Steve didn’t notice that he was being followed, until he glanced back in a store window.

The man was staying a little way back just barely keeping Steve in sight, he was blond blue eyes and was nursing a broken arm with the remains of what had to be a nasty bruise on his face, Steve almost instantly recognized the man as Jason, apparently Beth had given as well as she got with the man.

But why was he following Steve? Slowly pieces started to click until he had a vague idea what the picture was he was looking at and he discreetly moved to less busy streets before disappearing on the man.

The guy wasn’t very intelligent and ran forward to try and find him not noticing when Steve dropped behind him until he loomed over the man.

“start talking make it fast, make it true” the man whirled around reaching in his jacket with one hand but Steve caught his arm and squeezed hard “I will do a lot worse than break it if you don't start talking”

He thought the man would pee his pants, good.

“What do you want to know?” he stuttered shaking “where did they take Beth, don't even pretend you don't know who that is you dated her for the last few months”

His eyes were so wide it wouldn’t surprise Steve if he passed out “I don't know what”

Steve's grip tightened until he felt bones grinding together and he cried in pain “either you tell me what I want to know or else I’ll hand you over to her brother, he's a lot less patient than I am” if possible he shook worst “Okay! Okay... What do you want to know?” 

Steve smirked a little finally they had somewhere to start.

\----

Beth's condition didn’t get much better but she was given basic tools, whatever supplies she asked for and more food.

Nothing on the fresh clothing though, she didn’t mind too much.

She was kept in constant supervision the younger man with the dark marks on his face acting as her assistant, he didn’t talk much but that was alright, she talked enough for both of them.

She retold stories about captain America because that always kept the attention of the young man; apparently he was a fan, big surprise there.

The first time he spoke was a couple days after she started working on the vita-ray chamber they had shoved her into, never mind she had no idea how to build one she was doing something a little different and shed seen the plans once.

She was looking at some diagrams she had drawn when the boy spoke “are you, like the captain?” she looked up and turned to the man then smiled a little “yeah, I have the same thing in my blood he dose, kind of. It’s what they want and it’s how I've survived this long”

Beth knew her ribs were more prominent arms thinned, she didn’t like it but at least she was alive, no matter how much she looked like she used to.

“do you know him?” the guy asked she looked down and smiled thinking of all the times she made the man blush and nodded “yeah, were friends, I always try to make him blush when were in the same room because I think it’s cute, the big tough soldier, the perfect soldier that's saved a million lives in his time, he always looks tough. But when he blushes he just looks...”

She searched her vocabulary so a fitting word shed found since shed been starving her mental strength had also started to diminish “young?” she looked at the man and smiled “human” she corrected and he looked down then up again “could I meet him one day?”

She smiled “sure, so tell me about you, what's your story?” the man started to close up ducking his head farther but then he paused and seemed to debate something in his head before straitening again and started to talk.

He was the adopted son of the old guy Bernard skein, his name was Nicolas, and he’d been nothing more than a lackey for years barely treated any better than she was.

She suddenly felt herself grow angry and made a mental promise new surge of hope in her chest like a fireball, she swore shed get this boy out of here.

Slowly the machine came into being until after a month it was finished a surprising laying among its innards she knew she probably wouldn’t live to see it but she knew it would work perfectly even if not in the usual way.

Once the machine was finished they pulled her aside and they beat her, she had regained a little bit of her strength but it left her after the first kick to her head.

They chained her down to a table in a lab shed never been in before to a table in a crucified position it felt like something weighed down her arms as they hung off each side of the table, she couldn’t lift then.

They attached the transfusion tubes to both of her arms and started to drain every precious drop of her blood.

She felt her eyes go heavy and her head fell back hard, maybe she couldn’t keep her mental word.

She’d never been good at keeping promises anyway.

She felt the darkness surrounding her in a warm blanket and thought as her eyes closed she could hear someone shouting her name she imagined Steve coming for her with her brother and friends but knew it was just the blood loss talking, if they came, when they came.

It would be too late.


	11. Chapter 11

When the quinjet touched down in Germany they all disembarked Steve tony Clint Natasha and Bruce entering a safe house to comb together their plan, they had 24 hours before the base moved again.

This time they were in an underground lab below a warehouse, she would be either in a lab or a holding cell. Both at opposite ends of the basement.

Steve was nominated to go with Natasha toured to lab section while tony and Clint would go for the holding cell.

Bruce would stay there waiting for them to return check Beth for injuries and then they would get the hell out of dodge as soon as possible. 

They were all carrying explosives because if they had managed to create a serum it needed to be destroyed, within 20 minutes of arriving they were geared up and on their way to the base, Steve was carrying her armor for in case she was able to fight though he doubted she would be.

Clint took out the guards in only a couple of minutes and they were inside.

The only way down to the basement was an elevator which they all stepped on then they split up once the doors opened.

They worked smoothly together not needing to speak, the lack of sibling banter was depressing in Steve's ear.

He thought it was strange the way they were without finding any security for so long, but the moment he thought that they came up on a crew of five guards armed with stun batons and ak47s but they took them down quickly, one well aimed shield throw nocked half of them out and Natasha's widows bite dealt with the others.

They were close to the labs when their comm buzzed faintly with static “holding cells are clear accept for a young kid, says he knows her”

That was Barton’s voice “bring him, were at the labs now” Steve glanced through the clear portion of the door saw a curtained off area and a couple of scientists with guns on their hips he slunk back and looked at Natasha held up to correct number of fingers then made a vague motion to where the people were Natasha nodded then slid through the door he heard a few small scuffling noises before it went silent and he went inside. 

The men were laying on the ground one with a strange angel to his neck, the other bleeding out, Natasha was dusting her hands “I’ll look for Beth, you plant the charges” the woman nodded and went to work as Steve walked to the curtained off section to revile more curtained off rooms and sighed to himself.

He had cleared half the curtained off sections when he heard a soft sound and went straight for that specific one, it was directly in the back he meant to be slow pushing aside the curtain but when his enhanced sense of smell caught something metallic he knew something was wrong.

The only way even he could smell blood was if there was a lot of it.

He shoved aside the partition and stared at what lay before him, Beth was strapped down to what almost looked like a dissection table her arms stretched out and chained down two red lines going from her elbows to a container of some kind.

Her skin was pale where it wasn’t covered in dirt or grime, her clothing was tattered. Her hair a mess of tangles, her skin was deathly pale and it didn’t look like she was breathing.

In his hurry to approach her he dropped his shield it landed with a clang “Beth” he almost shouted suddenly beside her he touched her face, her skin always felt a little cold but now it was like ice.

He reached out and ripped out the transfusion lines pressing on the marks until they stopped bleeding and then reached for the chains that seemed to come apart like strings he ripped off the straps holding her legs down then returned his gloved hands to her face.

“Beth? Come on Elizabeth eyes open” he lightly smacked her face and her eyes twitched but she gave no other indication that she even herd him “tony I found her, they were bleeding her out, I stopped the bleeding and she's alive but she's not responding” there was a moment of silence then her brothers voice came on.

“Put her suit on her, it was retrofitted with Jarvis and a few other things to stabilize her, it might even get her up”

His brow furrowed “how do I do that?” he questioned and heard a sigh “press it against her chest press on the center it should be automatic” Steve turned to the bag they made him carry and pulled out a square thing, it was blue and grayish silver and he put the darker side down on her chest then he felt his hand sink a little.

The square that must be her suit gave a hiss like sound then rather like Tony's suit it started to cover her body the visor covering her eyes in a clear panel then there was a voice.

“Warning. Blood pressure low, condition otherwise appears stable, imminent medical attention suggested, deploying adrenaline shot on mark”

Steve's brows furrowed at the mechanical voice then it spoke the work ‘mark’ again and a few seconds later her eyes snapped open entire body tensing and shuttering, she tried to sit up but couldn’t quite manage.

Steve leaned over her looking at her eyes and saw them dilated “Beth?” he tried she blinked several times taking in huge gulps of oxygen then recognition flared “Steve? What” she tried to sit up again, this time with more effect then swayed Steve reached out and steadied her “oh, now there's two of you” Steve couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Lizzy?” tony asked over the comms and she suddenly smiled “hey little brother, were you playing with my suit again?” she questioned there was a chuckle “only improving a few things” she rolled her eyes “the adrenaline shot was a nice touch”

She reached out and grasped Steve's shoulder letting him support her as she rose up “how’d you calculate how much to give me?”

“Well whatever a normal person needed I tripled it” she froze “what?” she asked slowly “hey hey hey I can hear you getting upset, and I would like to point out I tried it on Steve first!”

Steve glared at nothing “you did what?” he herd tony curse over the comms and start sputtering but sudden gunshots stopped him “oh, there's security” Clint said “rogers get my sister out of here” she shifted a little then stood on her own “he will do no such thing, I have a good hour at the least until the adrenaline wears off, I can fight”

In the time Steve had known Beth he'd noticed her voice changed depending on who and what she was talking to or about and the voice she just used was her no bullshit iron jacket voice, there was no arguing with her.

“we need to hurry anyway” Steve looked at her as she started walking out of the room nodding to Natasha “why?” she shifted a little “they had be build something for them, I didn’t take the orders well, might have crossed a few wires and made it a little unstable”

There was silence a moment then “that's the sister I know and love!” she shook her head fondly as she walked like she knew where she was going “Steve there's another boy here his names Nicolas” she started but her brothers voice came back.

“he's with us!” she nodded once then security appeared, she recognized one of them and her face twisted into anger the visor going black and mask coming out to cover her lower face she held up on arm fisted and the thing around her wrist glowed “you deserve this”

The laser fired and went through the man’s head vaporizing a large amount of it; she didn’t even imagine it would be that satisfying.

Steve's shield went passed her head hit the hall wall and knocked into two peoples heads before coming back while she and Nat went after the others.

She was weak but she still had enough strength to break bones.

It took a good 20 minutes to get to the main area of the bunker “we have 10 minutes!” Natasha yelled over the fighting as they met up with tony and Clint they started for the elevator but it was destroyed they thought they were trapped until Nicolas spoke up “there's another way out through the main lab”

She looked at the boy and made a hand motion panting slightly “lead the way” they followed him through the twisting halls to wear the machine she built was set up the guards were concentrated there and they had to fight tooth and nail to get through them.

It was then she heard a humming noise “the activated the machine!” she warned and dove for cover behind some boxes a heavy weight landed on top of her and then things seemed to jump and flash white, her ears were ringing when something graved her arm and hauled her up she glanced around the machine had blown up just as she thought, a charred body on the ground with a lab coat made her smile despite herself.

She heard yelling felt something pulsing and something wet on her hands she couldn’t name.

Then there was another explosion and she was suddenly not on the ground anymore and she was moving, she caught half a glimpse of Steve's uniform, of Nicolas in front of them flanked by Clint and Natasha, she could faintly hear the ironman suit but she felt warm for the first time in a while and she closed her eyes.

\---

Steve knew the moment she passes out because his center of gravity shifted but he was quick to adjust distracted by running for his life away from an explosion.

He was the last out the warehouse door the explosion throwing him off his feet he turned and landed back first holding Beth close to his chest, the landing knocking the wind out of him he saw debris falling and pulled up his shield holding it over them.

Her herd several loud thunk's then everything was silent and he looked up the warehouse no more than a burning husk, he glanced back saw the others picking themselves up off the ground then his attention was drawn to the figure still in his arms.

She was leaned on his chest the mask retracted and her cheek against his collarbone, she could feel her huffing slowly and he could smell her hair, not that he had a choice there since the wild strands were tickling his nose now he knew why she pulled it back before putting in her helm.

A mechanized voice suddenly spoke up from the half silence “respiratory low, blood pressure dropping, suggest immediate medical attention” it was enough to snap him out of it and he nearly leapt to his feet running for the quinjet were Bruce was waiting.

On the way the voice spoke up only once more “respiratory unresponsive, pulse undetected” his heart went to ice and he pushed himself to run faster.

She couldn’t die.

Please don't let her die.

Please....


	12. Chapter 12

It took another shot of adrenaline and 30 minutes to stabilize her, a couple pints of Steve's blood to get her back up to less deadly levels.

If they had been only a few minutes later they would be transporting a body, rather than their friend.

She was largely silent on the trip, the young man Nicolas staying close and staring at Steve as they traveled back to the tower wear she could recover more fully, when they were 20 minutes out she stirred and turned her head blinking slowly, Nicolas said something to her and she muttered something back and the boy moved away seeming reassured.

She quickly fell asleep again so Steve didn’t bother her.

Arriving back at the tower they transferred her to the medical room set up in Bruce’s lab and Steve and tony took turns keeping watch even though Bruce told them it would be a couple of days before she was coherent again.

They didn’t really care.

It was during one of Steve's watch’s that she woke up, it had been about a day and a half since they returned and he'd been sitting with his sketch pad in his lap for what felt like hours.

And she didn’t wake up in the usual way, confused or questioning, well not questioning about her.

“did you take her to dinner yet?” he nearly jumped out of his chair when she spoke so suddenly and stared at her as she chuckled weakly and looked at him smiling slightly.

He took a moment to remember the question “Sharon?” she gave a half nod and he rubbed his neck wincing slightly but he hoped she just thought it was because of the subject.

“Not really. You’ve been missing almost four months, and she got reassigned a few weeks ago” she tilted her head a little looking at him closely, lips pressed together and he noticed again how thin she was.

When he'd first seen her he hadn't noticed because he was more concerned about her being alive but her ribs were clearly visible, her muscle tone all but gone and her cheeks nearly sunken giving her a skullish appearance in the right light.

“You got injured didn’t you?” he should have known better than to think she wouldn’t notice he shifted a little “just a little scorch on my back. I'm fine” she snorted despite the way it seemed to pain her.

“thanks for the cover” his lips twitched a little “least I can do” she tilted her head a little and saw the way his face became distant and slightly guilty “before you say it, this wasn’t your fault, swear to god if you blame yourself they’ll need to pull another fucking bed in here”

He glanced at her “language”

She smirked at him and stuck out her tongue “hey what's with your friend anyway?” he changed the subject rather badly and she made a mental note to go back to the former later.

“He was the scientists slave basically. Adopted him as a kid treated him more like a work hand, he helped me” Steve nodded slowly “well why was he staring at me since he saw me?”

She laughed actually laughed then winced “he likes you cap, huge fan from what little he told me” she saw the realization dawn on his face and saw the faintest traces of pint on his ears and grinned accepting that challenge “from what I gathered he literally adores you, I think if you said hi to him he'd probably faint”

The pink spread and followed by a shade of red and she grinned wider “cute” she hadn't meant to say that out loud but he thought she was still talking about Nicolas she it didn’t matter.

“what should we do about him?” he questioned she leaned back in the bed and shifted a little out of the impression shed made “I say let me recover then we’ll decide” Steve nodded again and reached out for his note book “if your drawing me I’ll choke you with that paper” he smirked at her but stayed silent and soon enough she slipped back into sleep.

She didn’t have to know what he was drawing, it wouldn’t hurt to keep it from her, and it actually sounded like it would help.

He shook his head to clear it and went back to etching.

\---

It took only a few weeks for her to rebuild her muscle tone.

Not to the extent of before she got kidnapped but enough that she didn’t look like a good wind would blow her over anymore, though it took about two weeks before she was able to eat as much as she used to.

As it turned out Nicolas was quite a talented chef, when the team first tasted his cooking they all took him under their wing.

She didn’t even have to argue for him to stay, not that shed spent the last hour mentally preparing arguments and plotting out every possible opposition the others could have had.

She’d just walked up to them while they sat around the table Nicolas in the living room and said they needed to talk about him.

Everyone had looked at each other come to some silent agreement then looked at her and said in unison ‘he's staying’, after shed shaken herself from the shock shed told them to pass the food.

Since she was back home safe Steve returned to his apartment, but Nicolas refused his room instead taking a spare room beside Beth's, leaving the captains room to once again remain empty.

She kind of missed him even though he was there almost daily for food and free gym usage.

One suck day he was sitting back at the kitchen island, freshly showered and watching Beth and Nicolas bump hips and work around each other as they fixed lunch.

His sketch pad was open on his lap and he was randomly skritching in it not really focusing on it as he half watched them joke and cook.

If the random skritches came out looking more like her, well, no one had to know that now did they?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well thats it........ please dont kill me?  
> but in other news theres a part 3 in the works!  
> i dont know when it'll be posted though we see how it looks when its chapter by chapter (i promise to work on the others, some time. maybe) but did you like it? hate it? wanna murder me in my sleep?  
> let me know in the comments below and tell me if you have idea's for the next installment.  
> kudos are love and i need love! please sustain me!  
> see ya'll next time.  
> RD


End file.
